Fear of Shirk

The supplication of Prophet Ibrāhīm to Allāh, seeking protection from shirk.

Based on this, EVERY caller to the religion should make duʿāʾʾʾʾ for the safety of his own-self, the safety of his religion, and for the Religion of his father or his parents, and that of his children in lineage and offspring.

Ibn Kathīr

In the Name of Allāh, the Extremely Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy...

When Ibrāhīm was supplicating to Allāh, one of the things he asked for was that he and his children be granted distance from the act of worshiping idols. He asked Allāh to protect him and his children from worshiping idols while he was the one who smashed the idols with the firmness upon Tawḥīd that he had.

In Sūrah Maryam, Ibrāhīm called his father to Tawḥīd saying:

أَبَتِ إِنِّي قَدْ جَاءَنِي مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَا لَمْ يَأْتِكَ فَاتَّبِعْنِي أَهْدِكَ صِرَ‌اطًا سَوِيًّا ﴿٤٣﴾ يَا أَبَتِ لَا تَعْبُدِ الشَّيْطَانَ ۖ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ عَصِيًّا ﴿٤٤﴾ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يَمَسَّكَ عَذَابٌ مِّنَ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ فَتَكُونَ لِلشَّيْطَانِ وَلِيًّا ﴿٤٥﴾٤ «O my father! Verily, there has come to me of the knowledge that which came not unto you. So follow me, I will guide you to the Straight Path. O my father! Worship not Shayṭān (Satan). Verily, Shayṭān has been a rebel against the Most Gracious (Allāh). O my father! Verily, I fear lest a torment from the Most Gracious (Allāh) should overtake you, so that you become a companion of Shayṭān (in the Hell-Fire).»[Sūrah Maryam (19):43-45]

Allāh (ʿAzza wa Jall) has praised him with special praises: being Haneef (pure in his monotheism) and being free from ever having made shirk.Along with that, here he is saying:

This clearly shows you that he was concerned and afraid of worshiping idols. He was afraid of committing shirk with Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta`aala) along with the strength of his tawḥīd, the strength of his conviction, his sincerity, his certainty and his knowledge of Allāh (ʿAzza wa Jall). This did not lead him to feel safe from being misguided, being tricked by the Shayṭān or being led astray. Rather, he knew that only Allāh (ta`aala) could protect him, and only Allāh could keep him from shirk, and every other thing would lead to his destruction and demise.

3 - We should (truly) be afraid of the reality of shirk since Ibrāhīm (`ʿalayhi al-Salām) was the Imām of the monotheists, and he demolished the idols with his hands, yet still feared falling into shirk. If the Imām of the monotheists, Ibrāhīm (`ʿalayhi al-Salām), feared shirk for his own being, should we not, as average every-day monotheists, be moreso afraid for ours?

Ibn Taymīyyah (raḥimahullāhu ta`aala) commented: WHO can be safe from trials after that?1

Ibn Kathīr said: Based on this, EVERY caller to the religion should make duʿāʾʾʾ for the safety of his own-self, the safety of his religion, and for the religion of his father or his parents, and that of his children in lineage and offspring.2

Endnotes:

[1] Collected by Ibn Abī Ḥātim in his Tafsīr.[2] Source: Class 07: Explanation of Kitāb al-Tawḥīd by Ustaadh Mūsá Richardson based on the commentary of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān (hafidahullāhu ta`aala)